S.T.A.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat Review

4 of 5 Stars.

Pros:
Gameplay is very much improved--best in the series by far.
Great atmosphere!
Engine looks better.
Artifact hunting is fun and rewarding.
Equipment upgrading is great.
Economy and pacing feels right.
It's a Stalker game.

Cons:
Not quite as atmospheric as the first game CoS.
Dialog and interactions feel off.
I never got much of a sense of story.
Character animations can be wonky.

Despite some negatives, Stalker gives you a vibe that no other game can. Go play it!

Free jumping.

Portal 2 Review

Portal 2 Review
5 of 5 stars

Stop reading this and go play it!

Jumping: Not only can you jump, but you can jump through Portals. What?!!?

Limbo Review

Limbo Review
4.5 of 5 Stars.

Pros:
Amazing visual artistic choices with the black and white silhouette
Astounding audio--makes you feel like you are right in there, and the queues really push you in emotional directions.
Truly evokes a sense of mystery
Excellent animations and tight controls
Great physics
Very well done puzzles and game design
Very moving (if confusing) ending

Cons:
I didn't really feel a build towards the ending. It sort of happened out of nowhere. Though that may have been intentional, I feel like the way the game ended could have been more impacting if the buildup felt more epic

Jumping: You can jump freely and catch ledges and swing on stuff. Heck yeah!

Risen Review

3.75 out of 5

Pros

Top notch exploration game--no matter where you tinker around, there is a something there for you to find (great rewards for exploration)

Beautiful world.

Great faction interaction.

Difficult Combat

Spiritual Successor to Gothic II (Gothic III sucked and Gothic IV isn't really Gothic)

Pretty good voice acting.

Good Humor.

I like that you can get yourself into hot water with tough enemies if you go running to areas you aren't ready to get to yet.

Cons

Difficult Combat.

You need to save/reload all the time.

Final chapters are very lackluster and final battle doesn't make sense in the game.

You will get some cheap deaths.

Except for one case, women are secondary, wimpy inhabitants of the game.

Game needed more development time. Could have been epic.

You can jump freely and actually catch ledges with some jumps!

Borderlands Review

3.5/5 Stars

Pros:

Cool classes with individual skills. Skill trees allow for some good customization.

Combat is some of the best FPS combat out there. It's fast, furious and intense.

Loot system is one of the best out there.

Good value for the money--lot's of gameplay.

Some good voice acting and some good individual NPC's.

Good humor.

Multiplayer is perfect for this game.

Really cool comic book aesthetic.

Good audio.

Vehicles (not the controls) are cool and add a good dynamic.

Claptraps are funny.

Cons:

Missions are basically go kill this.

Gets repetitive after a while.

Many of the boards feel pretty similar.

Beyond important NPC's, everybody is the same.

World feels very static--it doesn't feel lived in at all.

Vehicle controls are TERRIBLE!

Can't customize character beyond weapons and class.

Claptraps can get annoying (am I contradicting myself?)

Can jump freely!

Psychonauts Review

4.25 out of 5

Pros:

Wonderful, whimsical art style

Excellent sound and music

Top notch voice acting

Solid platforming

Tons of unlockables/upgrades/achievements

Good characters

More than one way to solve problems

Cons:

Might actually have had too many skills--could have cut them in half and used them more interestingly

Map felt confusing to to me for some reason

This is one of the best platformers out there. Go pick it up. It's a pity it didn't sell as well, because we are probably not going to see the sequel it set up, though I'd really love to play it. Support this game!

There is double-jumping!

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Skies Review

3 of 5 Stars

Pros:

Upgradable weapons and armor

Improved engine (sun rays look pretty spectacular)

Less bugs than the original

More emphasis on tactics

Some fun nostalgia from visiting familiar places

Cons:

Didn't feel different enough from Shadows of Chernobyl

Frustrating bugs

Need to do quests in order, so you have to reactivate ones you've completed once you've done the "first in chain" to actually complete them

Disappointing as compared to SoC.

Finding upgrades can be a real pain

Feel free to skip this one and pick up Pripyat instead unless you are a die-hard Stalker fan. It's not bad, it's just that it really doesn't feel like you are getting anything different than Shadows of Chernobyl.

There is jumping.

Voice Acting

I've been doing a lot of voice acting lately. I'm having tons of fun with it and who knows...it might just lead somewhere.

Indie Game: Caster Review

3.75 of 5 Stars

Caster

Pros: Such a hybrid of existing ideas that it feels kind of new.

Really cool weapons, some of which lower or raise terrain.

You can go very fast and jump really high.

Jump at will!

Cons: Really Short (although eventually you are supposed to be able to download new chapters for free.)

Not much of a story.

I feel like this game has so much more potential that it hasn't quite gotten to yet.

This game could really be great with a few more chapters. Keep watching this one.

PGP Game: Lava Mortus Review

TK's PGP Score: 4.25

paidgameplayer.com is a new site that I've stumbled on where you can play, review and actually compete for $$ in online games.  Here is my first review for the site.  Please be aware that I'm reviewing these games in relation to the selection on PGP.

OK, since this may be the only horror themed game on PGP, you really don't have any other choices, but this is still a really good game.

  

PROS:

Great flash cinematic scenes.

You can level up and distribute attribute points.

Many weapon types.

Gore!

Randomly generated levels.

Fast action.

Horror themed.

Mouse control is responsive.

Different enemies require different strategies.

Breakables.

CONS:

Should be able to reassign keys (If you're QWES player, it hurts).

Really should have gamepad support.

Voice for the storyline cinematics would be nice.

Would like more environmental interaction.

Randomly generated levels.

No jumping   :(

Play or stay?

PLAY!

Fallout 3 Review

TK's Score: 5

Fallout 3.

Great jumping!

Why are you still here?  Go and get it now!

Mass Effect Review

TK's Score: 4.5

Mass Effect.

No jumping :(

The Witcher Review

TK's Score: 4.5

The Witcher is definitely in one of my all time favorite RPG games.  It had some technical problems when it came out, but the setting and the and story were so great that it pretty much made up for any detracting problems.

4.5 star game.  Would have been 5, without the technical issues.

The enhanced edition is coming out right now and I'm furiously downloading all of the updates.  They have, however, managed to make it a most confusing and tedious process.  I don't mind registering and all that, but give me an option to download everything all at once!

Can kind of jump in combat.  :|

Anyway, I'll report back with updated impressions.

The Beginning and Mass Effect

Just continuing on with my screenshot collection here. My aim with this blog is to review a game when I'm done with it. Then perhaps rate it again after a while to see how my memory stacks up. Or maybe review it if I run through a game again. Anyway, it will be based on a 5-star system which I think allows for better reviewing of a game--rating games on a 1-10 scale has a built-in bias started with our school-grading where below 60% is basically a failing grade.

Anyway, I'm approaching the end of Mass Effect, but it has really taken me a very long time to complete because I suffer from an unfortunate chronic case of completionism.
OK, well my next post will have pictures.